Highest selling Kubota in USA?

[KeithInSpace]

Wow. You don't click a thread for one day and see what happens?

To be objective: It seems the fireworks started when Mr. Larry stated that Kubota only has market share because they're "cheap". There was a bunch of information in there from NH brochures, which is fine. Inform us. God bless it. Then there was the comparison between Cadillac and Kia. That's when the wheels fell off the cart.

I'm sorry, but this is a Ford/Chevy or Cadillac/Lincoln or Honda/Toyota discussion. Whatever your feelings, we have ALL spent a great deal (each in our own situation) on our respective tractors. Some are more loyal than others. With a $15,000 entry fee, we all did our homework before purchasing.

I'd be a fool for saving $2,000, for example, and not making a far superior purchase on another brand. In my case, the prices were similar (between my Kubota and NH dealerships) and I STILL picked Kubota. It fit me better for a variety of reasons. I probably would have still picked it even if the KUBOTA was $2,000 more. Silly, probably, but true.

Two points:

1) All drama aside, if someone comes into a brand forum and tells everyone in the forum that they are "simply cheap" in their purchase and that's the ONLY reason they make their purchase, you're going to ruffle some feathers. A LOT of feathers.

2) If brand new KIA's were selling for $4,000 all day, every day, I'd still pay $20,000 for a Honda. That's me. God bless that I am able. I don't for a SECOND look down on ANYONE driving a KIA. Nor will they EVER have market share (anyone remember Daewoo? Yugo? Now THAT's cheap). Similarly, I don't simply own a YardMan and a shovel for $898 combined. They'd do the same darn thing, but they're not NEARLY as much fun.

 

[Larry The Tractor Guy]

I was unaware any one was crucified? If some one has a thin skin here then they should not stir the pot....Larry was in the wrong place spewing the wrong message to the wrong crew....Sorry-if you don't like it- too bad.

Buster57,
You know, you had no problem stepping into the NH side and posting the following in MY thread:

Kubota has the B7800 but it vibrates like a sewing machine. JD has the 2520 but it is under powered and over priced...Yesterday I looked at my first NH.-ever. I test drove a TC30. Very smooth operation but the tractor the salesman showed me looked used. The design also looks like it came out in 1975. The ‘Boomer’ version is priced too close to the Grand “L” series. While the price seems competitive at $15.9k, the $350 processing fee was also a very big turn off. I will pay cash before I swallow that. The Fiat association is also a very big hurdle to overcome. Like it or not the “Fix It Again Tony” sticks.
I am still looking.

Now what purpose did that serve to my thread? It was a series of observations that you had no problem in posting in the thread. Did anyone, including myself, jump all over you for bashing the brands? More importantly, you say you looked at your first NH ever, and suddenly you have NH all summed up? One look and your done, you've made your judgment AND made sure to post it here on TBN for all to see. Yet I have been in the business for over 15 years, studying the competition, and I post some observations based on plenty of real world input and I'm the bad guy?

So what "club" am I missing out on here that will allow me to air my opinion without being chased off and accused of being a "vile attacker" in these threads? Do I have to be a vetern member for my opinions to count? Its no wonder there are so many members that have low posting counts, your chasing them all away.

 

[Northland]

Wow. You don't click a thread for one day and see what happens?

To be objective: It seems the fireworks started when Mr. Larry stated that Kubota only has market share because they're "cheap". There was a bunch of information in there from NH brochures, which is fine. Inform us. God bless it. Then there was the comparison between Cadillac and Kia. That's when the wheels fell off the cart.

I'm sorry, but this is a Ford/Chevy or Cadillac/Lincoln or Honda/Toyota discussion. Whatever your feelings, we have ALL spent a great deal (each in our own situation) on our respective tractors. Some are more loyal than others. With a $15,000 entry fee, we all did our homework before purchasing.

I'd be a fool for saving $2,000, for example, and not making a far superior purchase on another brand. In my case, the prices were similar (between my Kubota and NH dealerships) and I STILL picked Kubota. It fit me better for a variety of reasons. I probably would have still picked it even if the KUBOTA was $2,000 more. Silly, probably, but true.

Two points:

1) All drama aside, if someone comes into a brand forum and tells everyone in the forum that they are "simply cheap" in their purchase and that's the ONLY reason they make their purchase, you're going to ruffle some feathers. A LOT of feathers.

2) If brand new KIA's were selling for $4,000 all day, every day, I'd still pay $20,000 for a Honda. That's me. God bless that I am able. I don't for a SECOND look down on ANYONE driving a KIA. Nor will they EVER have market share (anyone remember Daewoo? Yugo? Now THAT's cheap). Similarly, I don't simply own a YardMan and a shovel for $898 combined. They'd do the same darn thing, but they're not NEARLY as much fun.

Well said Keith - my sentiments exactly

 

[Glowplug]

Remember this statement Larry?

Kubota does have a very large share of the market and it can be contributed simply to price. They are most often the cheapest on the market and if the customer is sensitive about monthly payment and the tractor will still do the job, then why would he pay more than he had to. Simple budget economics.

That is your original comment that incited all of this. It seems like ancient history now. Now that I have had a chance to overcome my utter shock that a dealer would post such incredible brand-bashing comments, I don't necessarily feel that this thread should be locked.

I enjoy a good healthy argumentative discussion as well as the next guy. This thread was started to discuss what is the best selling Kubota in the US. Then, out-of-the-blue you make an unprovoked comment that Kubota sells a lot just because they're CHEAP. You've equated Kubota to Walmart's Equate brand while saying that New Holland is so much higher quality and therefore more expensive. I'm not offended by an attack on Kubota in a general sense. I am shocked, however, that a dealer worth his weight would be such a brand bomb-thrower and just throw out the comment that Kubota is cheaply built and therefore cheap in price and thus the best-selling CUT tractor. There's nothing wrong with a healthy debate but this is not a healthy debate.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

So what "club" am I missing out on here that will allow me to air my opinion without being chased off and accused of being a "vile attacker" in these threads? Do I have to be a vetern member for my opinions to count? Its no wonder there are so many members that have low posting counts, your chasing them all away.

Speaking from experience, we as dealers get a different level of scrutinty than the other guys do. Its sad, because we probably have more information to share and a more balanced perspective than anyone else. However the community here does inhibit the balanced sharing of information, there are better online forums for that. I've caused firestorms like this myself for posting simply factual information. I think the problem here was not so much what was said, but that it was off topic and not relevant to the thread.

 

[Glowplug]

I think the problem here was not so much what was said, but that it was off topic and not relevant to the thread.

EXACTLY!!! It was an unprovoked, unsubstantiated, unecessary attack! That's what I've been trying to say in my posts.

 

[proudestmonkey]

Speaking from experience, we as dealers get a different level of scrutinty than the other guys do. Its sad, because we probably have more information to share and a more balanced perspective than anyone else. However the community here does inhibit the balanced sharing of information, there are better online forums for that. I've caused firestorms like this myself for posting simply factual information. I think the problem here was not so much what was said, but that it was off topic and not relevant to the thread.

I think its perfectly reasonable that dealers are held to a different standard in this forum, or any forum which is comprised mainly of consumers. We legitimately assume that comments from a dealer are biased in favor at some level toward whatever the dealer is trying to sell. So, balanced comments are a good avenue of approach.

On the other hand, I don't agree that the "firestorm" started here simply because his comments were off topic and not relevant. His comments seemed like they were trying to pick a fight, and even if he wasn't, his comments were at best inconsiderate of the likely audience because of the way he said what he said, and the content of what he said. Cadillac to Kia? C'mon. That's just asking for it.

Like others have said, and some have said very well, including you Messick, as tractor owners, we have all done quite a bit of research before we made whatever purchases resulted in our current ownership of a Kubota. I didn't know anything about tractors or Kubotas until last year. I still don't know much. What I do know is that, in comparing Kubotas, JD, NH, MF, and Agco SubCUTs, for ME, Kubota made the most sense, and it was not all about price. The main thing was: resale value. I knew I could buy my BX 2230, use it for a few years, and if I decided I didn't like it, sell it at not much of a loss and get something better for me. I didn't think the resale value on any of the other brands would be as good--and this told me more than anything how those who do know about tractors (the kind that know enough to know what kind of used tractor is a good buy) felt about the brand differences.

 

[Glowplug]

His comments seemed like they were trying to pick a fight, and even if he wasn't, his comments were at best inconsiderate of the likely audience because of the way he said what he said, and the content of what he said. Cadillac to Kia? C'mon. That's just asking for it.

Yup. . .

 

[Volfandt]

It's still alive......

Well, I tried to debate the actual issues posted by Larry and he's chosen not to debate my remarks and instead attack those he's percieved as attacking him.
Perhaps my actual "real" life counter points to his NH marketing dept produced power point presentations are unworthy of this debate. -Or- they are just not-debateable and I win
Oh well, mud slinging IS more entertaining......

Carry on

 

[Buster57]

Larry I always like being taken out of context.

Why don't you go some where else.

BTW-my Kubota dealer did take back the B7800 and replaced it with one that had no problems, and the NH still looks like a 1975 design...